Plan B (Best Laid Plans #2)(45)

Oh. Well, that's fair, generous even. Plus it was nice of him to refer to my career when I just had an orgasm in the middle of a workday. But still, I have a small bite of lingering doubt. Do I know him well enough to know if he's sincere? Or does he think of me as some errant wife he had to marry to keep his baby safe from my questionable child-rearing skills?





19





Kyle





"I think I'm falling in love with my wife." I surprise myself by saying the words aloud. They hang in the relative silence, accompanied by the sound of steps hitting pavement and the everyday noises of a large city waking up.

Luke and I are on one of our semi-regular early-morning jogs along the Schuylkill River. He lives in the building next to mine with his wife and children. We usually manage to squeeze in a workout together a couple mornings a week, either with an outdoor run or in the gym in his building or mine.

"Sounds complicated," Luke finally mutters, his tone laced with sarcasm. I don't miss the side-eye I get either.

"Shut up. It is complicated."

"Wives always are."

"It's too easy between us. It can't be this easy, can it?"

"Kyle, you were crazy about her the moment you met her. You told me so yourself."

"I know. I was. I am."

"How often does that happen? For anyone? That you meet someone you click with, be it a date or a colleague or a cat you find in a dumpster? It doesn't happen that often, because it's rare. It's like you started the relationship off on a home run. Enjoy it."

"It was hardly a home run. I knocked her up and left without getting her number."

"That you did." I glance over to see Luke smiling like my life is a source of amusement for him.

"Oh, fuck off. I seem to recall you knocking up a co-ed not that long ago."

"I thought we were talking about you?" We both move to the right to make way for a bicyclist we're about to cross paths with.

"Yeah, yeah."

"Listen, enjoy the easy. Because you've got years of difficult ahead of you. Kids change everything. You're in the midst of a sex-crazed honeymoon period fueled by pregnancy hormones. Things should be easy."

"Things can't change that much," I observe. Now it's my turn to side-eye Luke. "You and Sophie keep having them every twelve to eighteen months, for fuck’s sake. Are you trying for a boy or something?"

"Nah. If we wanted a boy I'd provide a sample to my lab, have them run a flow cytometry to separate out all the Y chromosomes and then have Sophie stop by my office for an intracervical insemination. Easy."

"You can hear yourself, right?"

"Would you rather I'd said I could jerk off into a cup and then turkey-baster my wife if we wanted a boy?"

"Fair point."

"A boy would be cool, if it happens. Or we can have half a dozen girls. I don't care."

"Jesus Christ. You want six? You guys just had a third one like two months ago."

"I'm greedy." He shrugs. "I'll take as many as I can get before Sophie tells me to fuck off and get a vasectomy."

We jog in silence. A solid half-mile or so while we're each lost in our own thoughts, enjoying the run.

"Let me ask you something. Professionally," I add, then wish I could take it back. Fuck, he's gonna rib me so hard.

"Sure."

"The pregnancy sex drive. Is that a real thing? Because Daisy—" I cut myself off. "Fuck, never mind."

"Oh, it's real," Luke replies like this is a normal conversation. Maybe it is for him, but I can't imagine anyone actually brings this up during a doctor’s appointment and leaves with their wife still speaking to them. "Increased blood flow. Increased production of progesterone and estrogen. Totally normal. Just try to keep up."

No kidding. I'm pretty sure Daisy woke me up last night for sex. She claimed she was worried that Tubbs was choking up a hairball but Tubbs was on the chaise longue sound asleep, so I'm pretty sure she made that up. I wonder if she'd even like me as much as she does if she wasn't so sexually needy because of the baby? And yeah, I immediately make a mental note never to say that out loud lest she try to unman me. Deservedly.

"Keep in mind it's different each pregnancy and she may or may not have the same interests with the next one," Luke adds. "Just follow her lead."

The next one? Fuck. I don't know what's going to happen between us after this one. This is all so fucking new. Unexpected. And I damn near railroaded her into a quickie wedding. This might all blow up in my face long before we can create a sibling for the one currently incubating.

"She makes me feel like a caveman. This pregnancy. That fucking bump. Like I'm proud of myself for planting my seed or some shit. And I feel possessive as hell about her. It's fucked up, right? I should look into therapy. Can you give me a referral?"

"Totally normal," Luke assures me without missing a beat.

"Yeah?"

"Absolutely."

I think on that for another half-mile. It's not like I'm sexually attracted to random pregnant women. Just Daisy. She's fucking glowing. And she smells incredible and damn if watching her body change because of our baby growing inside of her doesn't make me hard as hell. She's beautiful and I'll never forgive myself if I fuck this up.